The present invention relates to a laser containment barrier and, in particular, to a collapsible, self-supporting, rigid barrier, including a rigid frame and substantially rigid, high power laser beam absorption panels affixed to the frame, a base section upon which the barrier stands, and rigid light strips, which hingably attach adjacent absorption panels.
It is becoming more and more common to use lasers to perform industrial, medical, and research procedures. It is well-known that the radiation from such lasers must be confined to certain operative areas and that lasers used under a variety of circumstances can present a danger to personnel and equipment. It is also well-known that it is difficult to totally prevent the occurrence of stray radiation in certain circumstances.
Personnel may be injured by direct exposure to a laser beam on the skin. Also, if a person""s eyes were to become accidentally exposed to a laser beam, severe injury or loss of vision can occur. Since severe or even catastrophic injuries can occur due to exposure to errant laser radiation, many laser shields have been developed.
Most laser radiation barriers or shields consist of flexible, fabric-based materials, which are used to protect personnel from scattered and diffuse laser light. These, flexible shield materials can be used to construct protective clothing and/or drapes to be worn by or placed over personnel. Flexible materials can also be used to create curtains, which may be hung from any number of support devices in order to effectively contain an area within which a laser device is to be operated. However, due to their flexibility, these laser shield materials depends upon another structure to provide support.
Recently, rigid laser containment materials have begun to be used, especially in areas exposed to high-power laser radiation or direct hits from high-power laser beams. One such laser beam absorption material is known as EVER-GUARD(trademark), which has been sold by the Kentek Corporation of Pittsfield, N.H. the assignee of the present application for more than one year prior to the filing of the instant application. EVER-GUARD high power laser absorption panels comprise a textured surface, including a plurality of convexed dimples, which is directed toward a source of laser radiation. While EVER-GUARD panels have proven to be effective at containing high power laser radiation, they have, to date, simply been supported by existing flexible laser hanging systems, such as roller curtain tracks in areas susceptible to direct hits from high power radiation.
The Kentek Corporation has also developed a portable, self-supporting, rigid laser containment barrier, which is the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 5,992,417, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
While the portable, self-supporting, rigid laser containment barrier offers a number of significant advantages over flexible laser blocking curtains, it would be desirable to provide a collapsable, self-supporting laser containment barrier which is made up of a plurality of substantially rigid, high power laser beam absorption, which are hingable attached to each other using a rigid light strip, which simultaneously serves as the hinged connection intermediate adjacent panels and blocks errant laser radiation intermediate the plurality of laser beam absorption panels. One or more panels may further include a base section to support the panel in a substantially vertical arrangement. Rollers or casters may also be included to facilitate the positioning and movement of the panels.
The present invention provides personnel and equipment shields which comprise a plurality of collapsible, substantially rigid, high power laser beam absorption panels. The substantially rigid panels include substantially rigid frames to which may be attached a base section upon which each panel stands. In the preferred embodiment, the rigid laser beam absorption panel is a textured material, such as EVER-GUARD laser barrier material. Furthermore, in the preferred embodiment, the collapsible, self-supporting rigid laser containment barrier disclosed herein comprises at least two adjacent rigid laser beam absorption panels. The adjacent panels are hingable attached to each other using a rigid light strip, which blocks errant radiation intermediate the adjacent panels and which allows the adjacent panels to be angularly positioned with respect to each other once they are attached.
In one preferred embodiment, each laser absorption panel includes first and second pairs of aligned and spaced hinge pins disposed at each vertical edge of each panel. One hinge pin of each pair of hinge pins is positioned near a top edge of the panel. A second hinge pin of each pair of hinge pins is positioned near a bottom edge of the panel.
Each rigid light strip includes two pairs of aligned, laterally extending brackets, each having a hole disposed therethrough, which corresponds to one hinge pin of each hinge pin pair included on each laser beam absorption panel.
Two adjacent panels are hingably attached to each other by affixing a light strip intermediate the two panels with each bracket connected to an absorption panel hinge pin. Since the pins are oriented in a vertical arrangement, the brackets are rotationally positionable with respect to each hinge pin. Thus, once assembled, a pair of panels may be rotationally positioned with respect to each other and their connecting light strip. A locking device, such as a locking pin, may be inserted through a hole in one or more hinge pin above a hinge bracket attached thereto to effectively lock the adjacent laser absorption panels together in their hingable arrangement. Of course, more than two panels may be attached in the same manner to provide large laser containment barriers.